You Destroyed My Life Before I Even Had One
by x-punk-princess-x3
Summary: Anya was never accepted at school because she dressed different and liked different things from the mass majority but she finds she's even more different than she ever could have dreamed she's been a vampire just waiting to awaken!
1. Preface

**Preface**

"You've drained her completely and she's with child! You must get it out of there, Master." A small girl with a chalky white complexion, who looked no more than seventeen in a blue dress which would have been in fashion during the early nineteen hundreds, pleaded with the old man who stood over the broken corpse.

The elderly man worn long, grand robes; they were mostly red with golden threads in the embroidery. He had shoulder length silver hair and a beard of the same colour that reached his chest.

"Yes, I fear that you are correct my dear Helena, but there is only one way to keep this child alive…" he trailed off in a thoughtful tone.

His finger nails grew long and sharp so that it looked like he had five small knives coming from his hand. Kneeling down he slashed the woman's swollen stomach, the fluid which had protected her baby spilled out on the road but no blood as her veins had a been drained. The old man took the baby from its mother's womb, after wiping away some of the fluid, he lifted the baby's chest to his lips where the tips of his fangs were visible, and then he bit the child on its chest above where its heart would be. However this time instead of sucking out the blood of the tiny infant, the old man was giving it something.

Helena stood behind her master and listened to the infant's heart gain speed getting faster and faster until it suddenly stopped. Once she heard this Helena's face fell like a stone at the thought that the infant had died because of what they were. She would never admit to any one of her kind that hated killing the humans, but as she was always being told these days, that she was still young and that she would learn. Although she had awoken nine and a half decades ago she was still considered a child in her world, for example her master was over two millennia old.

"Now dear Helena, wrap this child in its mother's shawl and leave it into the hospital, we shall meet her again." He smiled to her, his face held so much wisdom and knowledge.

"But her heart-"

"The humans will hear the false sound of my heartbeat curse and I cannot leave the child in to them, but with you they will believe that you are a young stupid child who has found herself with a child she cannot keep."

"As you so wish, master."


	2. Chapter 1

**1.**

"Hey Anya wait up!" shouted my best friend Cassie, her dark brown curls bobbing up and down as she ran up the school hallway.

"Hey Cass, what's up?" I said when she was just a few feet away from me.

"Have you seen the Plastic Fantastic crowd yet today?"

"No I've managed to avoid them so far this morning," I grimaced at the thought of more annoyance from Tiffany DeWine and her moronic followers.

"Well Tiffany isn't having a good day, so she's now on the warpath. I hate that bitch, if only someone would go and rip her freaking throat out!"

"Talking more about vampires and things that only exist in your heads again freaks?" Tiffany sneered and she flicked her perfectly straight blonde hair and then she pushed me and Cassie apart so that she could open her locker to look at herself in the mirror there. "When are you idiots ever gonna wise up?"

"When are you gonna stop breathing?" Cassie mumbled as we both walked away, this managed to make me smile.

We walked side by side down the hall on our way to English class, Dr McBride was an alright teacher compared to some others although he can get a bit boring and we all had a paper due today on the poetry we had been studying in class. Cassie and I took our seats at the back corner of the class and as we were getting out our books, Cassie brought out her version of _"Jane Eyre"_ which was really one of her copies of _Deathnote_.

"Ahem, Miss Noble would you like to collect in the class's essays?" asked Dr McBride with a slight smile on his face, so he had noticed what she was doing last class.

"Not really but…" she shrugged but when he turned his back she gave him the finger which I couldn't help but laugh at, then she turned to glare at me but the glares she would give me would never be as severe as the death glares she would give anyone else.

"Sorry couldn't help it" I said as I tried to control myself then the new student that I'd heard about walked in the door and the rumours I had heard about were not far off the mark, he was hot!

"Um sorry I'm late I got lost," he said in a low clear voice, oh my I think I'm gonna fall off my chair…

"Snap out of it!" Cassie scolded as she sat down.

"Class," Dr McBride called us all to attention, "we have a new member joining our class and I'm sure you'll make him very welcome, this is Gerard Rowlands. Gerard there's a seat in front of Anya and Cassandra beside Daniel."

"My name's Cassie _not _Cassandra," she practically growled at our teacher and it was enough to make him look down out of embarrassment.

"My apologies _Cassie_." He stressed her preferred name as to not offend the fearsome 11th Grader.

Gerard walked slowly to the desk with his head down like he was on death row, poor guy. It must be so hard for him because every single girl was staring at him, well except for Cassie but that was because she had Daniel, he took the seat and sat quietly, looking like he really didn't wanna be here. Also if you're wondering why Cassie is sitting beside me and not Daniel, well they had to be separated so many times last semester for inappropriate behaviour that they are now banned from sitting beside each other

Then I couldn't stop myself from releasing a huge yawn, as for the past few weeks I had been obtaining less and less sleep each night and it was really starting to take its toll on me. No matter what I did I could never sleep, I've even overdosed myself on enough sleeping pills to knock out a horse and still I lie awake at night.

"How many hours did you get last night?" asked Cassie with that worried look on her face that I hated to see. I didn't like her worrying because I could always see the pain in her eyes when she worried about me.

"I dunno maybe about two or two and a half hours at the most…" at my reply she just shook her head and turned to Dr McBride with me following suit.

"Cass, you and Danny can go on to chemistry; I'll see you guys at lunch," I said as I shoved my last book into my bag, and then went to the desk in front where Gerard sat. "Hey Gerard, I'm Anya, I was wondering if you wanted someone to walk with to your next class."

"Hi, that would be cool might mean that I'm on time," we both laughed together, "I'm in art by the way, is that near where you're going?"

"Are you kidding me? We're in the same art class," I smiled and then the thought occurred to me, _Anya you freaking jackass, play it cool you've just met the guy!_

"Sounds good" he nodded, I had definitely over done it.

As we walked to the door of the classroom to head over to art, Tiffany decided to get up, "Hey _Gerard…_" she purred as she played with her hair, "I'm going to art as well and I'll relief you of all the dorks you've been surrounded by for the past hours" then she shoved me out of the way again but this time I couldn't take it, something snapped in me and I ran at her. With me left hand I caught her by the throat and with my right went to hit her face but Dr McBride caught my arm before it could impact her delicate little face and then her went for my hand on her throat, slowly releasing the grip. As soon as my hand left her throat she fell to the ground gasping for air but I wanted more and Dr McBride wouldn't let me, he just kept holding my arms.

"Gerard take Tiffany to the nurse's office." Then he turned to look at me, "what on earth just happened there?" he asked with an astonished look on his face.

"I-I just snapped…" was all I could say in my defence as the red colour in my sight slowly drained although I hadn't noticed it being poured on to my sight.

"Anya you shouldn't let her bother you and I thought the issue between you two had been resolved?"

I finally came to myself, "nothing ever got _resolved_ she just turned on the tears and the principal took her side." I needed to get out of there, so I stormed past him and out the door and I didn't slow my pace until I reached the art room.

I throw the art room door wide open and in reply to the Miserable Elf's – the name we gave to my art teacher – question which she had not yet spoken but inevitably would, I growled, "Busy!"

As I walked up to my usual next and threw my bag on the desk, I realised I was not alone. Gerard was sitting at my table. No-one ever sat beside me in art because I was one of the most boring people to sit beside; art was the only class I actually worked in. But Gerard sat there and when I looked up at him, he smiled when I met his gaze and something inside of me forced me to smile. It wasn't that it forced me out of politeness; it was because I wanted to smile back.

"Hey, sure you wanna sit here? Apparently it gets pretty dull beside me and after what you just saw… I'm sure you think I'm psychotic…" that last part hurt to say and I dropped my gaze from his as I remembered how I was no more than five minutes ago. I wanted his good opinion and in the back of my mind where I knew it couldn't ever happen, I wanted him to hold me and tell me I'm okay. But I've never been okay.

"I'm pretty sure I'll survive," he chuckled, "and we're supposed to focus on our art so that's why I asked where you sat, so that I _could_ sit with you. Plus with the Tiffany thing, I think you were justified in that although maybe it was a little too much…" he said with an even tone and he raised his eyebrows at much.

"Uh, thanks, I guess…" how lame am I, honestly!

So throughout the next hour we found out each other's preferred artistic styles and that as a pairing we were quite compatible. However when I say that I don't mean that in a loving relationship type thing but that we could work well and help each other.

"If you start shading there a bit darker then fade it out more gradually that should help that part there," Gerard pointed on my page and as he did so he leaned over so close to me, this just sent my head spinning he smelt so good and for some reason unbeknown to me I really wanted to lean forward to his neck. As I felt this strong desire I felt my upper jaw burn with pain as if I were teething again!

"Excuse me!" and I ran out of the room holding my mouth as it ached, sprinting past some freshmen and straight to the bathroom.

To keep myself upright I had to hold onto the sink, then I realised that my mouth was filled with fluid and if I didn't spit it out soon I would surely choke! And as I did I saw that the fluid was blood…


	3. Chapter 2

**2.**

As I stared down at the contents of the basin all I could do was stand and shake. How much blood was in there? Clutching the sink tighter I raised my head so that I could look in the mirror and when I did I could see the blood around my lips and why it felt like I was teething and it was because I was… I noticed that my upper canines had slightly elongated. The only coherent thought I had was that I was a freak and everything the thought swirled around my head, it was like a punch in the face. Then the door opened and I wasn't alone.

"Anya!" and in an instant Cassie's arm were around me and we both fell to the ground. The more Cassie tried to sooth me the harder I cried. "Anya talk to me, what happened?!"

"I-I-I'm a _freak!_" I cried out.

"Don't tell me that you're listening to that asshole Tiffany, are you?" she tried to remain calm but she sounded appalled.

Then the door flew open again and the one person I thought would never come in here came in. It was Gerard! He rushed down to my side with a terribly worried look on his face, "Anya, I'm sorry did I offend you I was only trying to help. I-uh- heard you scream out and- I'm sorry." Then he shocked me again, he took me into his arms in a firm and tight embrace.

Cassie stood up, still looking worried, "did you offend her Rowlands?"

"No he didn't…" I whispered.

Then my mind became frenzied again and the urge to bite him also returned to me. I wanted to scream for him to run but couldn't, I was taking all my will power not to sink me teeth into him however that wasn't the only impulse I felt I also wanted to kiss him but I was afraid. So I got to my feet as I was doing so Gerard's embrace loosened and then I sprinted out the door and all the way to the parking lot. I got into my Jetta and sped home, surprisingly without any cop trouble.

"Anya! Would you come down for dinner please!" my mother called up the stairs to me in my room where I had been hiding since I made my escape from school.

So I walked slowly down to the table where I would have a "nice" family meal. When I entered the dining room which was adjoined to the kitchen, took my seat and saw my mother bustling around the kitchen. I sat there thinking about what had happened today at school and wondering if there was something medically wrong with me. I looked at my mother and a thought that I had had months ago reoccurred to me, _she looked nothing like me and neither does my father!_ My mother had extremely dark brown hair which almost looked black with dark brown eyes to match and my father had black hair and chocolate coloured eyes. Whereas with me I had green eyes and before I dyed it black, so that I could fit in with them better, then I added some red to the tips; it was originally brown.

Dinner past in a blur and I was only vaguely aware that I was there, I think at the time I had gone into autopilot. Then my mother handed me the phone and she looked like she had been waiting for me to respond for a while. When I answered the phone it was Cassie.

"What the Hell happened to you Anya?" her tone was so frustrated with worry that I felt awful.

"Hello to you too young Cassandra," I smiled to myself.

"Don't fuck about, what happened back at school to make you run out of it?!"

"It's really complicated, I don't even know the ins and outs of it," I sighed. "I think there's something wrong with me…" _Yeah 'cause you're a freak Anya!_

"Kay well…" it seemed like for the first time in forever that Cassie was struggling to find the correct words to express the way she was feeling. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then…uh sleep well?"

"Yeah I think I definitely need to get some sleep…thanks for calling. Love ya…"

"Yeah…snap…" she trailed off as if she was sad about something.

After leaving the phone in its cradle I went back up to my room, _okay if I try to get an early night everything will go back to normal_ was all I could think of.

So from then onwards I tried to relax myself, I took a long shower to refresh myself and curled into bed. However no matter what kind of position I tried I could never get comfortable and by the time I got my eyes closed ready for some sleep, my alarm went off to alert me that it was seven in the morning. _Shit._

So I jumped into the shower for a quite freshen up, and then got dressed for school. Normally after this I would sit down and eat breakfast but I didn't feel at all hungry which wasn't like me, so I just went out to my car and drove slowly to school like I was on autopilot again. I even shocked Officer Newton as I drove past because I noticed his mouth hanging open. You maybe wondering how I'm acquainted with Officer Newton, well that would be because he's ended up issuing me numerous speeding tickets hence the shock on his face that I was driving so slowly.

When I arrived at school the parking lot was pretty vacant apart from a couple of cars. One was a black Trans AM which I had never noticed before, so as soon as I had parked my car in my usual space I walked over to inspect it.

When I reached the car to look around I noticed the windows were all blacked out, preventing me from seeing the interior of the car. So I walked around the car and nodded in approval of what I saw, this baby had been well taken car of, which is something I loved to see – yes I am a car freak so what? – then when I was level with the driver's window it started to roll down.

"Do you approve of what you see Miss Hart?" asked Gerard with a smirk on his face as mine turned red with embarrassment.

"Well…you missed a spot when you were cleaning it…" I said in my attempt of a comeback and I tried to regain my composure.

"Did I now?" he said as he raised his eyebrows, "well would you like to walk to class with me, I believe we're in art together."

"Sure, sounds good…" I said sounding like an idiot and he just smiled.

Once I'd said that, he rolled up the window and got out of his car so that he was standing beside me. Then when we were walking away he clicked the lock button on his keys. _Show off._

So as we walked to art we talked about music, movies and comic books, it was surprising how much we had in common, with each similarity our smiles grew. When we reached the art room we were the first students there but the Miserable Elf was there being miserable, so we went to our seats and the back and continued our conversation but when the room started to fill a thought sprang into my mind.

"I didn't show you the art store did I?" I asked with a smile.

Gerard caught my drift and replied, "No you didn't, you've only done half the job of showing the new boy around." At the last part of his sentence I made a face of mock horror and we both laughed together.

So we went through the door at the back of the class room into the store room, but when I looked back, as I was closing the door, just to check if the Miserable Elf had seen us and to my annoyance she had and was walking to the back of the room.

"Be quiet Gerard," I said with my finger on my lips, then I went over to his side to kiss him on the cheek which he blushed at, "now this is where we store the chalk pastels, this drawer is for the grey tone ones and this for the coloured ones. And this is-"

"Showing Gerard the store are we?" she asked raising a single eyebrow.

So I gave her a pleasant smile and replied, " Yes I never got to yesterday as were just _so _engrossed in our artwork yesterday, then it occurred to me if I were ill then Gerard would have no-one to ask where to find _everything_," and I gave Gerard a little wink at the everything part.

"Uh…well continue on then…" so the elf turned on her heel and left us in peace.

"Everything…hmm…we may need more than an hour if you wanna show me everything, could something be left as homework? Or maybe…cover work perhaps?" he smirked as he spoke.

So I went forward putting my arms around his neck, "and over there is where all the paints are… and over here this is where your lips are…" and I kissed his beautifully soft lips, however Gerard despite all his talk seemed more shy about the matter as it took him a little while to settle into putting his hands on my waist and properly kiss back. But when he did…_oh my!_

"Gerard…" I said sounding terribly breathless, " tell me if I'm going to far…I don't wanna push you farther than you'd-"

"Don't worry, I'll shout up if you're too much to handle," he smiled and I was so relieved that he was okay with me.

Then the urge came again to bite him and so I went in towards his neck, when my lips met with his neck I ran them up and down it before biting down. But I must have bit him far too hard because I could taste blood, this should disgust me, I should be pulling away but I can't. I just wanted more. Then he pushed me away and I realised my sight had gone red again.

As the colour drained from my eyes he said with a slight grimace as he touched his neck, "I'll make sure to keep away from the love bites my lil' vampy." He then took his hand away with the blood on it and I couldn't stop myself from crying. "Hey don't worry Anya, you just got caught up in the moment and I've got a tissue to get rid of the blood, chin up it doesn't hurt…"

"I am so sorry…" I couldn't look him in the eye as I sat on the ground, I could only stare at my knees, _what was I?_

"I think we're both well enough acquainted with this room don't you?" he said as he helped me from the ground.

When we walked out the Miserable Elf caught sight if Gerard holding the tissue soaked in blood to his neck, "what happened to you?! Anya Hart what have you done now go straight to the –"

"No it's not Anya's fault, it was my own…" he said looking the elf straight in the eye, "I was getting down a box of scrapper board tools and I dropped them and some cut my neck."

At this the elf was lost for words, "Next time be more careful Mr. Rowlands"

"Shouldn't you apologize to Anya?" he demanded.

"Shouldn't you be less cheeky?" she retorted.

"Thank you," I whispered knowing that I didn't deserve his defence.

"Before you say it, I'd rather be at you defence, rather than on her offence team," he smiled and I nearly started crying again.

_What was going on with me and my emotions? Normally I can't let anyone in and I _never _cry it was just wrong!_

The rest of the hour Gerard and I sat in silence working on our separate pieces until Gerard spoke again, "so any chance that you're in my Spanish class as well?" he seemed almost hopeful that I would be.

"Sorry Gee, I take French instead," and I truly did regret it.

"It's alright and Gee…I like it, thanks babe," and with that he kissed me on the cheek. I sat for a minute with my mouth open and thought that my heart should be going two to the dozen but I couldn't feel anything from it,_ I must be really messed up._

I walked in a daze all the way down the art stairs until I actually bumped into Cassie. "Hey sorry, I should really pay more attention…Cassie…do you think there's anything wrong with me?"

"What do you mean apart from the fact that you can't sleep at night? No I think you're fine. Like without you and Daniel of course nothing would be normal to me." She sounded so sure that I felt a little better but only a little so I decided to change the subject.

"Thanks, speaking of which where is Danny boy?"

"He had to go to the lil' boys' room, normally I would have gone with him to make him a lil' _happier_ so to speak but Mr Morgan…" she said with annoyance.

"He caught you giving him a BJ in the toilets, didn't he?" I laughed, although it did sound a bit hollow.

"Hey it was short, I didn't have him totally at my mercy the way I normally do, like he'd be moaning and begging me and – "

"Right that's _more_ than enough Miss Noble!"

"As you wish Miss Hart, oh and by any chance were you making out in the art store room with our dear little Gerard?"

"How on earth do you know?" I asked shocked that the news had reached Cassie but she was a brilliant eavesdropper and was very observant.

"Well, number one he walked past me grinning like an idiot –"

"Hey!"

"Second he has your red lipstick _all_ over his lips, _so_ how far did you get in there?"

"Not very…we kissed and I gave him a love bite but…I think I bit him a bit too hard."

"Well as long as you made him hard…"

"Too far, _again_, but after I bit him his neck was bleeding and I felt horrible!"

"Chill he was definitely happy enough when I saw him, and I wondered why he was holding a tissue to his neck…"

When we got to French we were the only people there, so we sat at our seats in the back again. In the French classroom you could sit at most four people to a table but we just used three of the seats. It was me on the left, Cassie in the centre and Daniel in the right.

Then disaster walked through the door, it was Tiffany and it seemed like yesterday hadn't registered with her at all because she was on our backs again.

"Hey _Cassandra_ not in the toilets giving lover boy a blow? Oh and Anya good job and trying to make Gerard realise that you're a freak!" she cackled and I snapped.

I jumped up on the table and ran across the room at her. I stuck the fangs that had suddenly sprouted out of my upper jaw into her throat and ripped it out with the flick of my head. Her body fell like a sack of shit to the ground and I turned to face Cassie. My breathing was erratic and I felt like I had no control over my body, I could smell her and see her blood pulse through her veins. I started to walk towards her, then I felt a hand around my ankle and I was pulled below the floor into a dark room.

"Did you _have_ to awaken during the day?" a girl's voice moaned.


	4. Chapter 3

**3.**

"What do you mean about awoken?" I asked a bit startled as the red colour faded from my sight.

"Well you've finally awoken as an adult vampire, congratulations," she gave a smile that had absolutely no warmth to it.

"Adult _vampire_?!" I practically screamed at her and she just rolled her eyes.

"Well that's what I said didn't I? Anyway, nice work finishing off the young Miss DeWine, did you know her great grandmother was a whore?"

"No I didn't…" I trailed off in shock.

"Yes it was quite the scandal back in the day, what happened was that Mr DeWine was a young, successful business man and he had various young ladies frequent his mansion and dear little Harriet happened to be one of those little girls. Then one day she just happens to be with child, this child would be Tiffany's grandfather and so to try lessen the scandal they got married, didn't work of course everyone knew although we didn't care much either. Harriet was a maid by day and a little whore by night."

"Well I guess if we ever meet in the afterlife I could use that against her…"

She cackled, "If there is a proper afterlife…oh dear, excuse me I'm being rude, my name is Helena Rothschild. So I believe this should be like a dream come true for you, you were obsessed with our kind, so how does it feel…?"

"I wasn't obsessed with vamp – wait a minute! How did you know I was…?"

"How I knew that you had a little vampire obsession, well in our clan I was put in charge of keeping an eye on any new vampire awakenings in our area. Now you may be wondering how I knew you were going to be one of us, that was unfortunate and I sense that would make you very unhappy or rather more angry. I'm sorry but my master was so terribly thirsty and he took the life of the woman who was carrying you and the only way for him to save you was to bite you, thus injecting his venom into your veins and stopping your heart…" she looked down towards the ground, her face showed old torment that had been pushed back numerous times.

"You mean that I've never really been alive? Is that why in gym class that when I've tried to find a pulse I couldn't feel one because there never was one?!"

"Regretfully no you were never a proper human, after my master saved you I took you to the hospital and got you to your adoptive parents, who I know never told you that you were adopted, although I think deep down you knew you weren't biologically their child."

"This has to be the most fucked up way to get told you're an adopted child…shit and I'm a murderer too I knew Cassie and I had joked about her dying but I didn't think I'd be the one to do it!"

"You're a newborn and she pushed you to the edge and beyond I'm surprised you lasted that long. May I apologise for not grabbing you sooner though because I think you gave young Cassie quite a fright…" again she looked towards the ground tormented, was this what it was like when you were a vampire, a tormented soul?

"So what do we vamps do now?"

"We are going to have to remove all your human world links as soon as it gets dark of course."

"Remove _all_ of my human world links?! But what about my friends Cassie and Daniel and…" I couldn't bring myself to say his name but he wouldn't leave my thoughts, just his face.

"It would be most wise if you stayed away from that boy Gerard, you shouldn't fall for a human," she warned me with a scowl on her face, "if you bit him again as you did in that store room, you would inject your venom into him –"

"Could Gerard be a vampire too? And Cassie she'd be so happy although we'd have to turn her little Danny boy as well but – "

"NO, he could _not_ be a vampire; once a human is bitten the chances of it surviving to reach our side are only three percent! So in all likelihood you would end up killing your friends just like Tiffany!"

So I was gonna be alone for the rest of eternity it seemed, I could no longer be with my friends without endangering their lives and I couldn't see if my relationship with Gerard would ever get any further than the store room.

After the abrupt end of our conversation, Helena tells me to follow her and she took me on a tour of this underground labyrinth. It seemed endless, with room after room, continuously covered with shiny black and white marble floor and classy white walls with white pillars trimmed with gold. We walked with deliberate slowness and I tried to seem more interested in each room than really necessary in an attempt to delay what I knew I was to do.

"It's late enough for us to begin. I will show you the curse to protect your friends and family from your return if your resolve should weaken and this will erase all the memories they have of you, so you will completely vanish from society."

"Well it's not like many people will notice anyway…" I looked towards the floor as I tried to blink back the tears that had started to blur my vision as I didn't want Helena to see my weakness.

Then she grabbed my hand so that she was pulling me at a speed that felt like it could be the speed of sound but strangely my eyes could keep up. We reach the side of the hedge outside my adoptive parents home as it seems it is no longer my own.

"Are you ready Anya," but Helena never gave me a moment to answer as she continued on, "repeat after me, 'through the stillness of my heart protect this dwelling and mortals within' then use this to cut your hand and press it to the ground, understand?"

"Yes, 'through the stillness of my heart protect this dwelling and mortals within," then I slashed the blade which Helena had given me across my hand then pressed it into the front lawn, suddenly there was a bright flash of light and I collapsed to my knees. I had given up on holding back the tears so they flowed freely down my face; my head was bent over touching my knees.

I felt Helena's cold hand on the back of my head, "I know it's hard but trust me it is better this way, and I trust you will be able to do the others on your own?"

"Yes…I think…"

"Don't think…" and then she was gone completely.

So I decided to try my new running skills out as I ran to Daniel's house as his was closest to mine, I managed to run the five miles to his house in a mere minute it absolutely astounded me. Then I found I could run up the tree in his back garden as it looked in to his bedroom window. I happened to know this fact as I've helped Cassie sneak into Daniel's room many times before to get him out for our late night chaos.

However tonight was very different, I was gonna have to say goodbye one final time and my friends won't even have a chance to reply. As I sat on the main branch of the oak tree hidden by the foliage, I watched Daniel hold a sobbing Cassie in his arms her face on his chest. I longed to go in there myself and explain to her, to tell her I would never have hurt her in that classroom. I was glad that being a vampire that you had improved hearing so I could hear their whispers to each other.

"S-s-she was completely deranged, her eyes were blood red and she didn't look like my Anya," Cassie kept sobbing.

"But Cassie how could she have been dragged through the floor?"

"I don't know do I?" she snapped back as if she had had the same questions thrown at her all day. "All I know is that Anya ripped Tiffany's throat out with her teeth then she started to walk to me with…with these like fangs showing then she was pulled under the floor… you don't think she's a…?"

"That's impossible…" but Daniel didn't even look like he believed the words he had uttered.

Gently he lifted Cassie's chin up so that their lips would meet but there wasn't the normal fury in their kiss that they normally had from their furious passion. The hours ticked on and neither of them spoke until they had both fallen asleep in each other's arms. After they had been asleep no more than half an hour Daniel's mum walks in, she eyes them suspiciously to start with but she notices Cassie's tear stained face and her face softens. But as she pulled the curtains I was almost certain she looked at me in the tree, so I shuffled back toward the main trunk then my view was gone.

"Maybe I could get away with doing this another time… I think I could have enough control to tell them goodbye…" I muttered to myself.

"No you could not do this another time and no you would not have the control!" Helena said firmly with a furious scowl as she perched on another branch.

"Right I have had it, you don't know what I'm going through times have changed since _you_ awakened it's not the same – " I growled at her I was almost seeing red again literally.

"So it may not be exactly the same but I had to leave people behind too, and I loved them just as much as you love your friends." She growled back just as furious but her eyes looked as pained as if I had physically hit her. "However _that _is inconsequential as human memories will fade away just like the centuries will fade away for you," she looked down and I had a gut feeling that her human memories had not completely faded.

"Well your human memories obviously haven't all magically gone away," I whispered acidly.

"No they have not and what of it? In this world I am still a young vampire but _greatly_ more experienced that you annoying little newborns that I am forced to look after." She replied in a much more ladylike acidic tone than mine.

"Well if I don't have the control now as an '_annoying little newborn_' is there a reversal curse for when I'm as controlled as you," I asked her with a half sarcastic tone.

"You will not need a reversal because you will do as you are told and it will be final."

"This isn't the nineteen hundreds you know…" it was a terrible comeback but unfortunately I was never really that skilled at them.

"What do I care of the year I am an immortal. Now just do as you are told and let me hear no more of it." Then she vanished again but she was probably watching me from her underground lair.

So regretfully I did as I was told, but I was only thinking of my friends' safety and not of Helena's wishes and so I repeated the curse on Daniel's house then ran the three miles to Cassie's house and did the same. It felt like someone had a stranglehold on my heart and they were not planning on letting go anytime soon.

Once I had Cassie's house cursed I followed my trail back to my new home, the underground labyrinth, well I guess I'll have plenty of time to explore it's just forever. Once I returned back at this cave like entrance I saw Helena waiting for me with another young looking vampire beside her. I could tell that she was pretty young as her clothes looked similar to the late eighties maybe early nineties.

"That was not so difficult was it now?" Helena asked still obviously sore. "This is Amelia and she will be showing you this life as she too was a rebellious newborn. At least _try _to be good Amelia," she shot Amelia a look of contempt then she vanished again, I wondered if she was just showing off.

"It's just Amy by the way, old twisted knickers doesn't when shorten their names, she thinks it's disrespectful to your parents as it was their will to call you that given name whereas I say fuck it," she laughed.

"Fair enough well I'm Anya," I said as I put out my hand for her to shake and she did so.

"So I bet you have some questions about our limitations, the elders don't like to look at it like we have limitations though but trust me that's what they are."

"Okay should I start with the most obvious, the sun?"

Amy just laughed, "That one is sorta true, we don't go out in the sunlight because we do get really extreme sunburns, like we end up really smokin'. But it is possible to minimise it I think, if you cover yourself in you know the baby sunscreen that's like factor fifty or sixty, then cover yourself with as much as possible with clothes and maybe take an umbrella," she laughed again but I filed away that theory for possible later usage.

"Cool, what about bats and flying?"

"I don't know how to fly but I've seen some of the elders use it, I think there's some curse that they keep to themselves for that and we don't turn into bats but we can talk to them and use them for surveillance," she shrugged. "Well the sun's gonna rise in an hour so should I show you to your coffin?"

"Coffin?!" I asked in a shocked strangled voice.

"Yeah chill you'll get used to it in no time."

So I followed her and tried to memorise the route to the exit at the same time, then we reach an absolutely enormous room fill with row upon row of coffins. I bet there would be more coffins in here than the average funeral directors.

"This one's yours and the one next to you is mine, I noticed you like My Chemical Romance so I got you a coffin like the one in that video…what's it called again?"

"Helena and thank you so much!" and I don't know what happened to me but I actually went up and hugged Amy.

She seemed a little bit uncomfortable about this, "Um I hope it wasn't based on our Helena 'cause that would probably make her more of a pain." Then I released her.

_This must be a newborn thing_ I thought.

"Oh and by the way," she said with a huge smirk as she started climbing into the coffin, "we're the last people to go to sleep, good morning…" and she closed the lid.

_Had she noticed I was planning an escape as we walked into here?_

So I closed up the coffin and sprinted for the exit whilst I thanked God that I was wearing my skinny jeans and my oversized My Chemical Romance hoodie my first bit of luck in a _long_ time. I sprinted to the Walgreens that was close to my school and bought a ton of baby's sunscreen. Then I took it to the restrooms to plaster myself in it doing a couple of layers of the stuff. When I finally felt ready to test Amy's theory I ran for the school to see if I could catch _his _scent and follow him home.


	5. Chapter 4

**4.**

Surprisingly his scent was really easy to find, but I don't have a clue how or even why I was able to automatically distinguish his smell. The two effects it had on me made me wonder if I could actually do this, on the one hand it made my knees shake and my dead heart quiver in excitement but on the other it made my chest and throat burn with a new hunger and I'm guessing that it was for his blood.

Whether it was right or wrong I still followed that scent until I got to the section of town where the houses where older than the rest and had a different sort of style to them. They were all painted sort of rustic colours and quite a few houses had willows tree outside – very horror movie style – and a lot of them had little porches over the front doors and a window above the porch.

Then I saw his Trans AM and I nearly passed out then and there, this was like giving the two fingers to all that Helena would have wanted, but she shouldn't have been such a bitch to start with. Then I tried to force Helena out of my mind I was gonna need to totally focus on Gerard and my actions.

So without breaking my stride I ran up his driveway, up the front wall of his house, then a cartwheel-flip thing onto his porch roof. As I peeked into the window I could a teenage boy's body with sheets twisted around him like he had been tossing throughout the night and the back of his hair was sticking up in all sorts of different angles. Although his face was into the pillow I could tell with the swelling of my dead heart that it was the young Gerard Rowlands that lay on that bed before me.

As I tried to open the window I could feel my back burning with a searing pain, I looked around behind me to see the sun was rising. I also instantly regretted turning my face to the sun as it did have any covering from my clothes so it burnt much faster. Then I found that the window had been locked on the inside and the only two ways to get in would either be to wake Gerard and get him to open the window or smash the window.

I started to knock the window as hard as I could without breaking it, which was harder than it sounds when you have all the strength of a newborn vampire. With each knock I saw him move in his bed but it didn't look like he wanted to get up at all.

"Gerard!" I hissed, and then I shouted, "Gerard, get up or I'll burn you comics!"

He definitely heard that because he fell out of bed in an attempt to swiftly get up, once he got up off the floor he looked rather dazed looking around his room to see who had called to him, so I banged the window again and he nearly jumped out of his skin but I just felt like mine was on fire. Once he noticed me he ran across the mess that was his room to open the window and once he did I collapsed forward, but when he caught me my skin burned so badly.

"D-do you think you have any after sun?" I croaked.

"Um yeah," he whispered back as he set me on his bed and I tried to suppress my yelp of pain.

_How am I gonna explain this to him_ I thought to myself whilst he got the after sun. Then I subconsciously took a breath and I instantly felt an explosion go off in my head and then there was a riot in there. I had to grip onto the mattress although my skin burned. So I decided that I had to hold my breath. _Why didn't I ask about that earlier?_

"Here's the after sun, but how did you get so badly burnt? And what happened to you after you went to French?" he asked with a pained, puzzled face.

"Um well…" it was actually really hard to talk without taking in anymore air, "I awoke as an adult vampire," I said and tried to smile as I worried about his reaction.

"Okay Anya, I won't hand you over to the cops but please tell me what happened to you where did you _go_?"

"Can I explain everything once I plaster myself in after sun please 'cause this really kills." I grimaced.

"Promise?" he asked as he handed me the bottle.

"Okay but it's gonna be hard to believe and you'll just have to trust me," I said as calmly as I could because I was trying to take off my hoodie so I could put on the after sun.

"Let me help…" and so he did, slipping the sleeves of the hoodie gently down my arms, "oh my… did you fall into a bonfire?!"

"Feels like it," I tried to laugh but my skin just burned and it made me want to suck in more air.

Underneath my hoodie I only had on a tank top so he could see how red and raw my arms and back looked, I don't know if I imagined this but I was pretty sure I smelt smoke. So between us we started to cover my body in after sun, I took the front and Gerard my back.

"May I? It looks pretty bad too…"

"Yeah sure…"

Then he started to rub the lotion onto my back, under my shirt through the stinging pain and the pleasure of Gerard's touch I gasped taking in a lungful of air filled with his lovely human scent which set off the riot in my head again causing me to shake violently like I was having a fit.

"We gotta get you to the hospital, _now_!" he said with worry and if I'm not mistaken pain dripped from his voice.

"Run Gerard, _Run! Please…_" I begged him but it came out as a sinister growl; he looked back at me with those deep brown eyes full of pained confusion and I hated myself for making him feel that way but I hated those who made me even more.

Shaking I rushed out of his bedroom window onto the porch roof but the sun had risen more and its rays were stronger than they had been. I could hear the skin on my face sizzle and a fearsome scream come from deep down inside of me, I was trapped, I had to get into Gerard's walk-in wardrobe and close the door tight behind me. I couldn't think of anything to do and I felt like someone had torn me apart then tried to burn the pieces, so I did the only thing I could do in my loneliness – I cried, only without any tear drops.

The longer I spent in his closet the more I got accustomed to his human scent as it was all through his clothes, so the riot seemed to soften but was still present. So I felt safe enough to pop my head out to see if the after sun was within my grasp, which of course it wasn't, it was lying on the floor beside Gerard's bed. I took one of Gerard's leather jackets off the hanger, to put it over my head, then I crawled out of the wardrobe towards the bed and as quickly as I could I snatched up the bottle. As soon as I had my hand on the bottle I hurried back and restarted what I had been doing with Gerard except now I was all alone.

The hours past and the bottle of lotion did not last as long as I would have liked. Then the wardrobe doors were opened so fast they nearly came off their hinges!

"What _were _you thinking? If you were even thinking at _all_!" a furious Helena stood with her arms crossed looking down at me.

"Good evening to you to Helena," I said as casually as I could, then a shame faced Amy stood forward.

"Sorry it didn't work as well as I thought…" Amy looked at my burns then sharply away.

"How did you – ow! – find me?" I asked as I tried to move as I didn't want Gerard's house to be full of vampires when someone came home.

"Magic," Helena said with a face like stone, "what the Hell do you think you are doing in the home of a mortal!"

"He's just someone really close to me that's all…" I said trying to justify my actions.

"You are a vampire, you can _never_ love a human and you will do as you are told. Your burns will serve as a fitting punishment for your actions." Then Helena had vanished leaving just Amy and me in the room.

"Why does she hate humans so much?" I asked trying to divert my attention as I got up off the floor.

"Well, I heard some of the older vampires talking when we were waiting for the sun to set, apparently Helena was once in love with a human when she was still very young…" she looked down not meeting my eyes but I had a feeling that there was more that she had heard.

"So what happened…?"

"She lost control it took her decades to get over it apparently, but I think she hasn't got over it. They-they also said that love between vampires and humans, well that it was cursed that it could never exist on this earth and I'm starting to believe that… First Helena kills her lover who I think she was engaged to and when I became a vampire…" her voice broke and she fell to her knees, she couldn't properly cry though, as a vampire she had no tears.

I tried to sooth her by patting her in her shoulder as I couldn't do much else with the burns and everything, "it's alright, and it wasn't your fault…"

"But I was worse than Helena! I awoke during a music festival; I kill one hundred and twenty-three people and my Jake! I caused the Warped Massacre as it became known!" she just shook but I knew that there should be tears. This wasn't a natural thing this girl need the tears of sadness to be released.

So we eventually made our way back to the layer, well we went slowly for vampires. Helena was waiting for us looking angrier than when she had left us, "Master wants to see you two, he's awoken before he usually does…"

"What, Master?" I asked.

"Our creator and our master that's who, do not ask silly questions" Helena snapped.

"But isn't he supposed to wake every half century or so?" Amy asked.

"Yes, that should have been the case. However he wants to meet all the new vampires who have awoken, so that would be the two of you and Alexander" Helena replied like she wanted to kill someone.

"By the way his name's Alex, Helena…"

"Well I do not care a jot, just go and meet your master!"

So we followed her deep into the layer, deeper than I'd ever been and by the look on Amy's face this was deeper than she had ever been as well.

_But this is the man who made me this way, the one who killed my mother and the one who made me hurt Gerard. This is the man I hate._


	6. Chapter 5

**5.**

Amy, Alex and I stood at these two giant wooden doors waiting to be called on. All three of us looked suitably nervous and confused, Alex was even holding on to Amy's hand to give her some moral support and he whispered to her words of encouragement in his English accent.

Then the doors opened inwardly, seemingly on their own accord. These doors showed us a grand chamber lit by large candles stationed around the room. _Someone's obviously behind in the technological times_.

"Why would I need such things as electricity and other gadgets when I most likely will not be using such devices?" asked this old man with long silver hair and blue robes who sat in a golden throne.

"She apologizes of course for such thoughts, my Master," Helena calmly said from behind us, then walking towards the older man. "May I present Alexander Davies, awakened 1986; Amelia Williams, awakened 1988 and Anya Hart, awakened 2010?"

"Ah yes, the prophecy youngling of mixed heritage and the one who will crush the revolution…" the old man said evenly whilst looking at me with this really deep expression like he was sizing me up and maybe even reading my soul because I had already had the misfortune to find out that he could read my mind.

"Revolution, Master, what is this which you speak of?" asked a suddenly worried Helena.

"Never fear my child; I trust the prophecy of the Ancient Aledan" he replied smoothly, nodding at me and Helena bowed low.

**Back in the coffin chamber**

"Now that wasn't so bad was it?" Alex said to Amy but looking to me for support.

"Yeah he seems fine, shame the bastard killed my mother!" I couldn't keep the aggravation out of my voice as I stood up from sitting on my coffin lid.

"Your not the only one to lose people so stand down, Anya," Helena glared as she appeared out of thin air again, "it's the only way to pass on the clan without being noticed"

"But he killed my mother whilst she was fucking pregnant with me, how is there any honour in _that_?" I spat

"She got what everyone else got – a lifetime." Just as little tinge of bitterness seeping into her voice.

"No she didn't he took it! Why don't you just bite people when they're adults rather than kill a pregnant mother then take her child?" I was nearly screaming at her.

"There is a higher rate of survival if we take infants, the older they are the easier it is to lose them, that's why. Plus she was messing with things she should have left alone" Then Helena did he vanishing trick again, _bitch_.

"What's that supposed to mean Helena? What do you know that I don't?" I shouted to the spot that she had vacated. "I'm going out, the sun should still be down …" I said to Alex and Amy but I also had a feeling that Helena would be listening too.

Thankfully the sun was down because my burns were still incredibly raw but at least it doesn't smell like burnt flesh anymore because with a heighted sense of smell it is rather repulsive. So I ran to the only place that I could find comfort in that I hadn't cursed – Gerard's house.

Outside of the lair I felt the cool night air against my face and it could do nothing to shift my thoughts. I had to see if Gerard was alright from what I had put him through that morning. His pained face stinging my mind's eye, I had to right my last memory of him and see him smile. Love is never simple, yeah it's even got me using the L-word already, but he feels so right and I would protect him with my life. Well I don't know if that's what I have since I was filled with venom as soon as I was ripped from my dead mother's womb; but the point is that I won't let anyone hurt him, be it mortal or immortal like myself.

So I ran back to the place where the sun had trapped me this morning to hope that its occupant was still there, safe and well. However when I got there I could see that Gerard's house was cordoned off with police tape. Then on the lawn I saw a woman, who I assumed to be his mother, sobbing in the arms of a man who seemed to be in shock, as if he was trying to put together a puzzle even when he was missing some of the pieces.

So I moved faster than any of the humans could see and jumped through Gerard's open window. His mattress had been ripped to shreds and there were smashed photo frames, in general the room had been totally trashed. Then I looked up to the wall, above the head of his bed, to find a letter pinned to the wall and it read:

"_Dear Little Half Blood,_

_Well they probably have not explained that little detail to you; maybe I should expose some of the truth. You, Anya (yes we know who you are), were the child of two filthy slayers, hence you still have some of that blood in your veins, so do not disgrace the vampire race by claiming that you are one of us. Now back to business, I have taken your precious mortal to my castle (ask your master, we go a long way back, I used to even call him father) and then I shall prove that he was wrong to choose you instead of me. As you are a weak and could not sever your ties, so I shall do it for you so that you can taste what it is like to be a vampire. However I shan't last long as I plan of severing your head soon afterwards."_

_Love Krystal xo"_

So I took the vile letter from the wall and ran faster than I ever had to get the answers I needed to save Gerard. I was prepared to let go off this Earth but I wasn't prepared to let him left it too.


	7. Chapter 6

**6.**

By the time I had made it back to the cave-like entrance of the lair, I didn't care if we were allowed to enter the Master's grand chamber. Once I reached those huge wooden doors I pushed them open and although they seemed pretty solid, they looked like they were going to fly off the hinges. When I entered the chamber, I saw Master with his head in his hands, and he only looked up when I was right in front of his throne.

"Who the Hell is this Krystal?" I screamed at him as I threw the letter onto his lap.

Before he spoke, the Master lifted his head from his hands, showing a more aged and fragile face than the one I had seen a few hours ago. Then he replied in a sad tone that sounded like he was ill, "Krystal is a rogue vampire. She has been corrupted by jealousy and greed." Then he lowered his head again and sighed as if he were tired.

Once he did, Helena appeared in a black dress, "She was not always Krystal," she looked at me with sad eyes as she said this, "Krystal is the product of jealousy, greed and my sister, Rosanna."

_Why did everything have something to do with Helena? _I thought angrily.

Then she spoke again to explain further, "This all happened because the prophecy was misread. The clan went searching in 1910; they thought half-blood meant that they would have to find twins. So they turned Rosanna and me and as they trained us it was apparent that the techniques came more naturally to Rosanna than they did to me. Therefore everyone assumed that she was the chosen one. However three decades past by and there was nothing to affect the vampire world. Plus by that time Rosanna and I had become equals, so the prophecy was read again. It turned out that it was not twins that were required but the child of a slayer couple. So Rosanna lost her privileges as we waited for you. Throughout that time Krystal was forming and it ate away at Rosanna. My sister is dead, leaving Krystal in her place and now it seems like she wants revenge on all of us because in our quest to find the vampire saviour, we created the nemesis!"

After that story the black dress made sense, Helena was mourning for Rosanna. So my opinion of her had been completely wrong, Helena was not the vampire I should have been shunning, she was the one who should be my ally.

I looked at the Master and I could swear that he was aging more each time I glanced at him. Then I looked to Helena and said "well we better stop this," to which she nodded.

Then she added "we better hunt first for strength."

This had completely thrown me and I remembered the day, not so long ago, that I accidently killed Tiffany. This put me in a slight state of panic but this was for Gerard and I am a vampire after all…

But still I questioned it, "Like kill someone? I've already done it once, by accident. I really don't want to have to do it again…"

Then she gave me a slight smile, although it was devoid of humour I could see that she was trying, "don't worry I have that part under control, first we must stop at the hospital."

"We can't go in there to kill a dying person!" I shrieked.

"Which we are not going to do, we shall use the hospital blood bank," and she rolled her eyes which didn't fit with the Helena I had thought that I'd known. "So you wait here and I'll get us something to drink because a novice will severely hold me back."

Then just like that she was gone again but she had left me to _wait_! Whilst Gerard was in danger from a vampire menace? _How can she ask me just to wait!_

"Anya, Krystal will not harm your mortal. He is her bait for you, however it is true that you cannot leave him for too long with her," said Master in a voice that made him sound exhausted.

That thought though kept me from going mad as I waited for Helena and although she didn't take too long it felt like an age to me. However once she arrived she dropped the blood bags she was carrying and ran up to the Master, who I hadn't looked at in quite a while to notice because I was too caught up in my own thoughts.

"Master! What is happening to you?" she cried.

"Helena, I think that my time has come. The prophecy is coming true; it no longer needs me to carry it on, but do not fear this is how it is meant to be…"

Then the most shocking thing I had ever seen in my life occurred, the Master actually crumbled down into _dust_!

"Anya, drink this," and she handed me a blood bag with a shaky hand. Once I took it she made a quill and some thick, yellowed paper and wrote some symbols onto it, "once you have finished that, take this and close your eyes it will take you to the castle."

So I stuck my fangs into the blood bag to drain it, and then did as Helena had said. When I opened my eyes again I was in a long corridor that looked like it had never been cleaned, since there cobwebs everywhere and a think layer of dust on the windowsills. The place was actually terribly depressing since the floors and the walls were made of grey stone. But up ahead I could see a door with a wooden frame and a glass centre. So I ran towards it as fast as I possibly could with only Gerard in mind. However, once I was through the door a mechanical, harpoon like device shot through the glass and then through my stomach. Once it was through the whole way through, three prongs opened up so that I couldn't take it off. Then it pulled me backwards through the glass and down the corridor.

Then it came to a sudden stop and I was aware that someone was standing beside my head as I lay on the ground and they said in a voice that I recognised instantly as Dr McBride! He cried, "Anya! You're one of _them?_"

"No, I'm here to save the day! What are you here for?" I shouted back.

"I'm a slayer!"


End file.
